Russia is no place for young people

The West is decadent, we are besieged by enemies, but our spirit will not buckle under the pressure of gay-friendly Europe — this broken record has been playing on Russian TV for five years. National TV propaganda is trying to convince Russians that the whole of the world is against them because they have traditional values. The West has nothing, that's why they envy us.

All this while half of Russian citizens are unhappy with the size of their salaries and struggle to pay for health care and education, according to recent polls. When it comes to young people, they do not believe in the idea of great Russia versus rotting Europe. In fact, many of them want to live in the West, according to the independent Levada Center pollster: over 40% of Russians between 18 and 24 would like to permanently move abroad.

It's good in Moscow! How about in Russia?

You can argue against the survey results — you can say that young people don't want to leave and things are not that bad in Russia. Sure, if you head out of Moscow on busted roads and see the way people live out there, it can get really scary, but you should still love your homeland.

Hey, things are pretty good in Russia! Especially if you live in Moscow. Even better, if you were born there and don't need to rent an apartment that costs half of your salary. It's just that Moscow........